pages 172 and 173 of Michael Dorman's THE GEORGE WALLACE MYTH
Every road leading into town is marked with a sign that reads, "Welcome to Clio, native home of George Wallace."
Many of the residents count it their fondest boast that they have known Wallace since he was a boy. The town has changed little in the intervening years. Most of the small stores and cafes currently surrounding Clio's main crossroads, at the intersection of Alabama highways 10 and 51, were there during Wallace's childhood. The section of Highway 51 running through Clio has, however. been renamed in recent years the Billy Watson Highway, in honor of a longtime Barbour County political figure who was one of Wallace's early mentors. Along the Billy Watson Highway in what passes for Clio's downtown are such establishments as Joe Long's Grocery, Smith's Laundry Mat. the Carpenter Tractor Company, the Corner Cafe, and the Cup and Saucer Restaurant (whose window sign warns, "No alcoholic beverages allowed"). Next door to Joe Long's Grocery stands a one-story brick building that serves as the city hall. A garage adjoining the city hall houses the two local fire engines. At the intersection of highways 10 and 51 stands the Cash Drug Store, operated by Wallace (Buck) Mizell. A jolly man of seventy-one years with a round pleasant face and white hair, Mizell looks as if he would make a fine Santa Claus. He has known George Wallace all his life. "I remember when George was born," he told me. "He was born right down the street there, where that brick house is now." Mizell pointed to a red brick house with green metal awnings, a small front porch, and three brick columns-standing across the highway from the city hall and next door to a farm-supply business.
"It wasn't that house he was born in," Mizell said. "The Wallace family used to have a wooden house there. Then George's daddy inherited some money in 1932 or '33, tore down the wooden house and had the brick house built." (The house is now owned by a couple named Zelmer and Margaret Herring.) https://books.google.com/books/about/The_George_Wallace_Myth.html?id=DWETAAAAYAAJ
Every road leading into town is marked with a sign that reads, "Welcome to Clio, native home of George Wallace."
Many of the residents count it their fondest boast that they have known Wallace since he was a boy. The town has changed little in the intervening years. Most of the small stores and cafes currently surrounding Clio's main crossroads, at the intersection of Alabama highways 10 and 51, were there during Wallace's childhood. The section of Highway 51 running through Clio has, however. been renamed in recent years the Billy Watson Highway, in honor of a longtime Barbour County political figure who was one of Wallace's early mentors. Along the Billy Watson Highway in what passes for Clio's downtown are such establishments as Joe Long's Grocery, Smith's Laundry Mat. the Carpenter Tractor Company, the Corner Cafe, and the Cup and Saucer Restaurant (whose window sign warns, "No alcoholic beverages allowed"). Next door to Joe Long's Grocery stands a one-story brick building that serves as the city hall. A garage adjoining the city hall houses the two local fire engines. At the intersection of highways 10 and 51 stands the Cash Drug Store, operated by Wallace (Buck) Mizell. A jolly man of seventy-one years with a round pleasant face and white hair, Mizell looks as if he would make a fine Santa Claus. He has known George Wallace all his life. "I remember when George was born," he told me. "He was born right down the street there, where that brick house is now." Mizell pointed to a red brick house with green metal awnings, a small front porch, and three brick columns-standing across the highway from the city hall and next door to a farm-supply business.
"It wasn't that house he was born in," Mizell said. "The Wallace family used to have a wooden house there. Then George's daddy inherited some money in 1932 or '33, tore down the wooden house and had the brick house built." (The house is now owned by a couple named Zelmer and Margaret Herring.) https://books.google.com/books/about/The_George_Wallace_Myth.html?id=DWETAAAAYAAJ
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